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<title>"I Just Keep Getting PHDs" by 14m4kn1f3</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29116965">"I Just Keep Getting PHDs"</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/14m4kn1f3/pseuds/14m4kn1f3'>14m4kn1f3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Criminal Minds (US TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Autistic Spencer Reid, Canon Autistic Character, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Help, Hurt/Comfort, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Wrote This While Listening to Mitski's Music, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Physical Abuse, William Reid Being an Asshole, and also sad russian grunge, dad hotch too, fuck gideon, no proof readng we die like men, papa rossi ofc, so many feeings, theres so many spelling errors, this sucks i hate it ugh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:42:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29116965</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/14m4kn1f3/pseuds/14m4kn1f3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A fic where I demonize William as much as possible and as a result Spencer uses education and academics to cope with William being a shitty abusive deadbeat dad. spencer is autistic too bc its canon and also im autistic and i say so</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aaron Hotchner &amp; Spencer Reid, Spencer Reid &amp; David Rossi, The BAU Team &amp; Spencer Reid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>154</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>"I Just Keep Getting PHDs"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>yea so to preface this is heavy on william and gideon hate ft rossi and hotch being surrogate fathers and its not meant to be hotch/reid or rossi/reid at all theyre his dads to me so dont mention hotchreid or anything lke that in my comments thx. also this is a oneshot sorry and uhhhhh this is set like a couple months after rossi joins the team again but reid is like 25 so uh go ahead. tw for child abuse n all that shit thats in the tags</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are lots of ways to beat your fathers.</p><p>Spencer Reid keeps getting PHDs. Because he's a genius. And when you're smart, thats what you do.</p><p>Everyone knew Spencer Reid was a genius, and it was impossible to miss. Endless statistics and knowledge on practically anything you ask him. He was smart. But he was annoying. That's what everyone thought of him, everyone except his team, who just knew he autistic, as well as just a bit eccentric, and passionate. </p><p>When the team met im, they all noticed little circular scars on his upper arms that looked like cigarette burns, but they thought, "well, everyone has their vices." But they have never seen Reid smoke. Not once. And they asked him if he ever did. He said no, because it was the truth. He didnt smoke, but his father did. His father smoked and Spencer was an ash tray. Spencer flinched when you touched him without him knowing beforehand. He still isn't used to whenever Morgan or JJ ruffle his hair on the jet or when he's doing paperwork. He leans forward and he looks back when there are heavy footsteps behind him. But in a police station full of men so much taller than him, and bigger than him, it was constantly like that, with Spencer always looking over his shoulder until he was finally immersed in a map with some dry erase markers, or until Hotch or Rossi sat with him and let him talk about whatever he wanted. It was usually about the case.</p><p>Sometimes, though, it was the footsteps or the telephone ringing and all the little noises that annoyed him until it was too much. He told them about the meltdowns and the noises that made it worse but he never told them WHY the footsteps were the worst. It was because of his father's tidy shoes that clanked on the floor when he got home from work, and how they got heavy when he was angry. That's why Reid's footsteps were always light, and it never sounded like he was mad, even if he was, because then his own footsteps would scare him. And because, well, he was too skinny and light to have heavy footsteps in the first place.</p><p>William had a stressful job, so he was angry a lot. So he smoked a lot, and he took it out on Spencer. A lot. </p><p>On a case one day, Spencer was sharing a room with Rossi at the hotel. He had a nightmare, and dad rossi moments ensued.</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>"O- ok. Um. Reid."</p><p>"..."</p><p>"Reid? Reid are you okay?"</p><p>"I'm. I'm okay. I'll be okay, I'm sorry. Im sorry."</p><p>"Reid, don't be sorry. What happened?"</p><p>Spencer was silent. He stared at the wall with his mouth slightly open. He wanted to say something, but nothing came out.</p><p>"Reid." Rossi stared at Spencer, blankly facng towards the wall. Rossi sat on Reid's bed until Spencer looked at him again.</p><p>"It was my dad," Reid stammered. "It was my dad. He was angry. He wasn't- um- He wasn't yelling, but I could tell. The footsteps. He was stomping towards me- and um- he was smoking. So- so I uh, I hid from him, but that just. Um. That just made it worse."</p><p>Rossi just gave him a hug until Spencer fell asleep again. He didn't really know what to say or do with a skinny sleeping 25 year old. So he just let the kid sleep.</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Reid woke up in the morning before Rossi did. He was dressed and making coffee when Rossi spoke from behind him. "You alright kid?"</p><p>Reid hesitated. "Yeah I, I uh, I will be. I'll be okay." He scratched the side of his face while he poured himself coffee and threw in every packet of Splenda that was on the counter. He handed Rossi the coffee he made before his own. It was much less darker, there was no milk or anything, just a simple creamer and maybe one pack of Splenda. </p><p>"Thanks, kiddo. We've gotta be in soon, are you ready?" Rossi took the coffee from Spencer and sipped lightly while he waited for Reid to respond.</p><p>"Oh, uh, yeah. I'm ready, I just have to use the bathroom for a second." Reid bolted and locked himself in the bathroom. "ImgonnabeokIcandothisIcandomyjobitllbeokimgonna-"</p><p>"Reid?"</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>The next case they were sent on involved child abuse. A man left his son after abusing him for years, and the son grew up to kill him for it. What terrified Reid more than anything is that it could've been him. He could've murdered his own father. But he didn't resent him. Well, he did, but he never wanted to murder his father. Spencer beat his father by getting PHDs instead of with his fists, like his father did to him. </p><p>Morgan approached Spencer from behind while he was lost in his thoughts. "You look like shit, Reid." Spencer jumped. </p><p>"Uh- yeah, um, I kinda feel like shit too," Reid cleared his throat. "Cases with, um, with kids like this always kinda- uh, get to me, I guess."</p><p>"Kids like this?" Morgan questioned.</p><p>"Yeah. Kids who were, uh, abused."</p><p>"You wanna talk, kid?"</p><p>"Maybe when we're back at Quantico. Not feeling exactly- um. Im not up for that right now."</p><p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</p><p>He kept getting PHDs.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Im writing this while in a depressive episode after having an autistic meltdown and didnt proof read</p></blockquote></div></div>
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